Well,
this is it…the last chapter. Thank you to those who bothered to
keep up with this little fic o' mine. I'd also like to give a big
thank you to those of who took the time to review.

Of
course, an enormous thanks goes to alittlesummerwine for putting up
with me and making what were without fail incredible suggestions and
corrections. Thanks, ALSW.

I still don't
own anything concerning Batman, Wonder Woman or Justice League.

And
just a little note concerning the xiphos. It is a double-edged,
single-hand sword used by the ancient Greeks. Definition courtesy of
Wikipedia.

----------------------------------

Though her eyes didn't
open, Diana's consciousness floated to the surface just enough to
register that she was warm and safe. That was all. She didn't awaken
enough to remember where she was, or what a terrible night she had
had…only that she was warm and safe.

She never even realized
that she smiled as her mind drifted back into sleep and into another
dream…

----------------------------------

Diana stood in the
teleporter of the Watchtower, trying not to smooth out her knee
length black spaghetti strap dress for the tenth time while waiting
patiently for Mr. Terrific to initiate the process that would take
her to the Batcave. It was always a tedious process, going to the
Batcave when Bruce wasn't around to handle the controls himself. With
all the safety procedures and security protocols that Bruce had put
into the system for transport to the cave to keep its location a
secret, it took time.

Mr. Terrific finally
gave her the signal and she readied herself for the teleport; not
that there was much she could do to get ready. It just happened,
really. A flash of light and you were in another place.

She saw the telltale
flash and felt the sudden, yet pleasingly familiar, chill of the cave
along her arms and legs. A quick look around showed her that there
was no one in the cave, and by the absence of the Batmobile she
realized that Bruce had gone out into his city in the guise of
Batman. She was surprised that Alfred hadn't…

"Good evening,
Miss Diana," greeted the elderly butler warmly from the bottom
of the stairs. He stood there looking at her with a kind expression
upon his face, though his body language was all butler, complete with
straight posture and hands clasped behind his back.

She hadn't even heard
him open the secret passage, let alone walk down the stairs. "What
is it with these men and their stealth?" Diana asked
herself. To Alfred, she smiled and responded with, "Good
evening, Alfred." She glanced to the Batmobile's usual resting
place, turned back to Alfred and said, "I presume Bruce is not
at home."

Regret flashed in
Alfred's eyes. "I am afraid not, Miss, though I anticipate his
return shortly. Commissioner Gordon requested his help with a
perplexing case…nothing too serious, I am happy to say."

Diana knew that the
relief she felt at that tidbit of knowledge made it onto her face
when Alfred's lip turned up in a very short smile. "Thank you,
Alfred. I'll…just wait here, I guess." She took one step
towards Bruce's chair next to the Batcomputer when Alfred's appalled
voice reached her ears.

"You most
certainly will not wait here, Miss." She looked at the butler
and saw a stern look instead of his usually kind features. "I
will not allow any guest of Master Bruce to wait in this dingy hole
in the ground, especially a guest as important to him as you are."
He stepped aside and motioned with his right arm up the stairs. "Come
up stairs, Miss. Master Bruce will know where to find you."

"What does he
mean 'especially a guest as important to him as you are'?"
wonderedDiana. A flare of hope, albeit a little one, as
she knew that allowing herself to hope when it came to Bruce was a
dangerous game, exploded in her chest.

A subtle clearing of a
throat brought her attention back to the cause of her introspection.
She was well aware that Alfred's stubborn streak matched Bruce's,
perhaps even surpassed it. When it came to matters of proper protocol
and the comfort of his guests, Alfred was the irresistible force and
the immovable object. Admitting defeat, she walked to the stairs,
looping her right arm in Alfred's in a gesture of warmth and
something beyond friendship.

Alfred took it all in
stride and led them up the stairs, his sure and steady steps showing
the familiarity that came with years of walking them. When they
stepped out into the light of the manor, Diana released Alfred to
allow him to close the entrance to the cave.

"Now, Miss,"
said Alfred when he had finished. "Where would you prefer to
wait? The kitchen? The study, perhaps?"

Diana thought for a
second before replying. "The library, if it's all right with
you, Alfred." She could always read what a travesty the
historians made of ancient Greek history if Bruce took too long.

"Of course, Miss,"
responded Alfred as though he had known what room she would choose.
And perhaps he did. Not all of Bruce's deductive abilities were self
taught…some of it, perhaps a great deal of it, was learned from
Alfred. "If you will follow me?"

Diana nodded and
followed the butler as he led her to the library. She knew where it
was anyway, she had been in there before of course, but she decided
to humor Alfred and let him do his duty.

As they walked Diana,
knowing all too well of Bruce's painstaking efforts to keep his
identity as Batman a secret, had to ask, "Alfred, how would you
explain to someone that Wonder Woman is in Wayne Manor?"

Alfred remained silent
until a few seconds later when they reached the library, but after he
opened the door to the room he met her gaze and responded. "Despite
its calm and peaceful façade, Miss Diana, Wayne Manor has a
security system that would make the Secret Service green with envy.
The upgrades Master Bruce made after the Thanagarian invasion boggles
the mind. We would know if anyone were coming in plenty of time to
retreat to the cave or make some other arrangement." Alfred
smile. "Please wait here, Miss."

Diana watched as Alfred
went into the room and did a quick survey of the library. She knew
that he was checking to make sure that the room was presentable for
company, and she could tell that something was bothering him when he
moved out of sight for a moment and she heard something that sounded
suspiciously like annoyed muttering, which was then followed by the
sounds of books being put back on their shelves. But when Alfred
returned a minute later, his demeanor and appearance was totally
ordinary.

She lifted her eyebrows
at Alfred in curiosity, and Alfred, never above embarrassing Bruce
said, "You would think a man as meticulous as Master Bruce is
when it comes to protecting his alter ego or planning an adventure
would be as efficient in cleaning up after himself."

Diana couldn't help but
laugh at the concept of a messy Bruce as much as she laughed at the
irritation in Alfred's voice.

"At any rate,
Miss, the library is ready." He stepped out of the way to allow
her to enter. Diana nodded gratefully to Alfred and stepped inside.

"Would you like
some refreshments, Miss?" asked Alfred kindly. "Some juice
or a snack?"

Diana smiled, which she
realized she did quite often in Alfred's company and shook her head.
"No thank you, Alfred."

Alfred nodded in
acknowledgement and said, "Very well, Miss. I will be in the
kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner if you require
anything."

With that Alfred walked
down the hall towards the kitchen. Diana watched the butler move
swiftly yet quietly. "How does he do it?" she asked
herself again. She shook her head in wonder and walked into the
library. It was, as one would imagine, very well stocked with books
of all types, regarding all subjects from all over the world.

She moved to the wall
where she had found a book or two about Greek history the last time
she was in the library. Her brow furrowed in confusion when after
searching through the section twice there was no sign of any books
regarding that subject. She was just about to look for a third time
when Alfred's voice nearly startled her enough to jump.

"You will not find
them there, Miss," stated Alfred, who, Diana noticed, had a
small tray in his hands containing a pitcher of ice water and a
single glass. He moved inside the room and placed the tray upon the
heavy oak desk that rested in the center of the room, then moved to
the section of books nearest the desk. "After your last visit,
Master Bruce asked me to arrange all the books regarding anything
Greek in this section, Miss."

Diana was stunned
speechless, which disturbed her to a very large degree. She knew
Bruce pretty well; she knew that he was more thoughtful and
considerate than he let on. His kindness wasn't as outwardly apparent
as Clark's, for example, but it was more meaningful and more intense
in its own way.

She looked to where
Alfred was standing to find the spot empty, and for a moment she
wondered just how long she had been in that little funk when Alfred's
voice came from the doorway.

"Is there anything
else I can do for you, Miss?" he asked kindly.

Diana regarded him with
a mixture of appreciation and annoyance. "Yes, Alfred, there
is." At his questioning look she said playfully, "Please
stop sneaking around me. I find it very…disturbing."

Alfred didn't quite
smile as he nodded. "A butler should never disturb his guests,
Miss." He turned to leave but stopped and looked back over his
shoulder with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Then again, what
fun would there be in that?"

She was still doing
mental sums in her head in an effort to determine if Alfred was
serious or joking when she realized that he had left…quietly. Not
able to find it within herself to be angry with Alfred, she could
only smile as she walked to the section that Alfred had indicated.

She was looking through
the books, her right hand grazing softly across the spines of the
books as she read their titles, and wondered exactly why Bruce had
asked her to come here tonight.

She thought back to
earlier in the day…

It had been a long and
exhausting three says since they had defeated Darkseid's invasion,
with the members of the League working twenty-four hours a day for
those three days with the cleanup and rendering any assistance they
could.

When she had finally
beamed up to the Watchtower this morning, she had been more than
ready for a hot bath, a monster sized ice mocha, and her nice, warm,
comfy bed.

That plan fled her mind
in a heartbeat however, when none other than Batman met her when she
materialized aboard the Watchtower. He looked as tired as she felt,
but more than that, he looked a little…uncertain. He was eerily
still and had his dark cape drawn around him like a shield.

And he was looking
right at her.

She stepped down onto
the deck, walked over to him and waited. She looked into the opaque
eyes of the cowl for several minutes until she had been forced to
wonder if he was actually asleep standing up. She smiled softly and
had turned to go to her quarters when his arm shot out with the speed
of Hermes and held her left arm, just above her elbow.

"Diana," he
said in a quiet monotone. "Come to…"

He stopped and appeared
to do a restart, trying to come up with the proper phrasing. She
found it endearing.

"Could you come by
the manor this afternoon?" he asked so softly that she wasn't
sure she heard him correctly.

The area of her arm
covered by his hand was becoming increasingly warm. Pushing through
the shock, she answered, "Of course. What time?"

He hesitated as though
he had been unprepared for the question, or hadn't expected a
positive response. "Six o'clock." He cleared his throat.
"Dinner. Come by…please, come by for dinner."

Diana managed to keep
her emotions- the anticipation, the hope and the nervousness- in
check and responded with a burgeoning smile. "I would love to,"
she looked around to make sure no one was near then leaned in closer
to him, just in case, and whispered, "Bruce."

He almost smiled. Not
quite, but it was very close.

"Good," he
pronounced brusquely as he released her arm. He then strode to the
teleporter controls, entered a few codes, and stepped onto the
platform.

"See you then,"
he said in a business like tone, but his tone softened considerably
when he added, "Princess."

He disappeared and
after a moment of trying to figure out what had just happened, she
realized that she only had a couple to hours to get ready. The next
couple of hours were a blur of hairstyles, dresses and outfits, make
up decisions and a number of other things she couldn't even remember
in her blurry haze of anticipation.

All of which had
brought her to this point, waiting in the library of Wayne Manor for
Batman to come home.

She hoped she wouldn't
have to wait too…

"I'm glad you
could make it, Princess," came a familiar voice from the door.

"Wouldn't miss
it," she said casually as she turned to face him. When she saw
him her breath hitched in her chest for a second. He was wearing a
very flattering black suit with a white button up shirt underneath
the jacket. He wasn't wearing a tie and the top two buttons were left
undone.

Handsome didn't do his
appearance justice.

Bruce slowly entered
the library. His eyes were as focused as she had ever seen them, and
to her surprise, the fact that she was the object of their scrutiny
did not bother her at all. In fact, she quite enjoyed being the
center of attention for Bruce.

She met his gaze, as a
warrior would meet the attack of an enemy. She would not back down,
nor would she let him know just how much his intense gaze was
affecting her.

Finally, after what
seemed like an eternity to Diana, Bruce smiled. It wasn't the foolish
playboy smile she had seen on Bruce Wayne at any number of functions,
nor was it the half smile Batman allowed himself on very rare
occasions. No, it was a full fledged and totally honest smile.

He walked over to join
her near the shelf of books. When he was standing next to her he took
a deep breath and spoke. "I would imagine you've been asking
yourself why I would ask you here." When Diana, flushed with
amusement, nodded her verification of his assessment, he went on.
"When Clark, Luthor and I went after Darkseid, I really didn't
expect to survive."

All amusement at
Bruce's discomfort fled her at that honest proclamation. He said it
so calmly, so clinically, without any hint of emotion.

Bruce turned to regard
one of the multitude of books along the wall, avoiding her scrutiny
in the process. "The situation seemed more than a little
hopeless. Clark, at the best of times, can barely manage to hold his
own against Darkseid. Add to the mix Luthor's unpredictability and
the fact that he could stab us in the back at any time, the odds of
getting out of there in one piece decreased dramatically."

Diana was stunned. She
had never before heard the usually supremely arrogant and confident
Batman talk so grimly.

Still looking at the
books, Bruce went on. "When Darkseid shot his Omega beams at me
and I tried to avoid them, several things flashed through my mind.
Dick, Tim, Alfred, Gotham. But the most glaring of them all," he
turned to look into her eyes as he finished with a whisper, "was
you."

Diana felt her eyes
widen in astonishment. He noticed and something slammed shut in his
eyes as he looked to her feet. She could almost see the war within
him play out in his eyes, and she had to fight the strong urge to go
to him and hold him. If she did that, she knew, it would be saying
good-bye to any chance they had, if they had any chance at all. The
storm in his eyes, the swirling blue and gray intensified into a
maelstrom as the battle raged on. She waited, trying to breathe
normally and maintain her composure, but she nearly jumped in her
place when he suddenly found her eyes with his own and, as she looked
into his eyes, the storm having passed, leaving his usual handsome
blue eyes looking back at her.

"You," he
repeated as though he hadn't just struggled to continue. "Despite
my best efforts at keeping you at arms length, Princess, you've
managed to get in." He inched closer to Diana, who was too
enthralled by his honesty and the situation as a whole to so much as
bat an eyelash. "The beams were coming at me, and all I could
think about, was the regret I felt at not giving us a chance."

Bruce moved even closer
to Diana, who now realized that she had been holding her breath and
tried to subtly draw in some much needed oxygen before the sudden
ringing in her ears overcame her.

"There are things,
decisions and choices, I've made in my life that I'm not happy with,
Diana", he said softly, "but I've never regretted them.
I've accepted responsibility for them and learned to live with them."
Bruce's right hand reached up and softly stroked Diana's left cheek.
"But God help me, as those red beams got closer and I tried to
dodge them, I actually felt regret over my decision about us. I
really did wonder 'what if' for a fraction of a second." His
left hand moved up to gently rub her right cheek, then his hands
cupped Diana's face in a loving hold. "I've spent the better
part of three days trying to figure out what it all means and I've
come to an inescapable conclusion." Bruce leaned forward until
his forehead rested against Diana's.

For Diana the fear,
hope and anticipation she was feeling at the possible meaning of what
Bruce was saying was sending her heart rate into a super sonic
flutter.

"I want to be with
you, Diana." He rubbed his nose against hers. "I need you
in my life…I know that now. It took me nearly getting hit by those
beams and the world taken over to see it, but I have…finally."
He leaned back just enough to look at her, let his arms move to rest
on her bare shoulders as he smiled at her.

And the nervous smile
he had on his face was as impossible to ignore as the electric shock
that traveled the length of her body as his hands touched her
shoulders. She didn't know what to say after such an emotional
display from Bruce. The super sonic flutter of her heart intensified,
though she had no idea that was even possible and butterflies in her
stomach appeared out of nowhere.

His voice seemed to
waver ever so slightly as he said, "I just hope that it's not
too late for…"

His sentence was cut
off when Diana's body, sick of waiting for her mind to get up to
speed, acted of its own accord. Her arms reached up and wrapped
themselves around his neck, pulling him towards her until her lips
met his own, initiating their first kiss since that night in the
restaurant as they avoided the Thanagarians.

Bruce's momentary
surprise evaporated quickly, as evidenced by his hands moving to her
waist, then sliding slowly to rest on her back and, of course, the
fact that he was returning the kiss with a passion.

Diana poured everything
into their kiss, all her respect for him, all her joy at his words
and actions, and yes, all her love. Emboldened, Diana let her tongue
graze the edge of his lip, a perfectly reasonable move for one
trained to be a warrior, to explore the limits of the rules of
engagement and the perimeter of the 'enemies' defenses.

She couldn't completely
hold in the groan of pleasure when his tongue slipped past her lips
and began its own reconnaissance of her mouth. She fought to regain
the initiative, but settled for a draw when their tongues fell into a
comfortable caress of each other.

Diana gave him a smirk
of her own. "Brilliant deduction, Bruce," she teased. Her
right hand left its resting place behind Bruce's head, moving along
his shoulder then up to his jaw. As she gently traced the edge of his
jaw line with her fingers she said, "No it's not too late, if
you meant what you just said."

Bruce's jaw clenched in
what for any other man would have been a flinch. "I don't blame
you for doubting me, Diana," he whispered. "I haven't
given you much of a reason to believe me." He hesitated before
adding, "I don't know what I can say…" He stopped and
locked his eyes onto hers. His eyes bored into hers with an intensity
that she had never seen before.

She looked into his
eyes, deep into them, past the shell that was the playboy
billionaire, past the specter that was Batman, and into the very
essence of Bruce, into his very soul. She realized then that this was
the first time, the only time, that he had opened himself up to her
in such a manner…completely and without holding anything back. And
it warmed her soul.

His intense stare
didn't falter, didn't waver until she smiled, and his gaze softened
in what she thought was relief.

"We're really
going to try this?" she asked with awe in her voice. She knew
there would be other things to talk about, to work through…his
three reasons, for example. But she was more than willing to try, and
now that she had peered into Bruce's soul she knew that he was
finally able to try as well. That was all she needed to know.

The right side of his
mouth edged up a fraction. "Only if you want to, Princess."
And as if to further confirm what he said, he leaned over and pressed
his lips to hers. Her last thought before totally losing herself in
the kiss was, "I love you, Bruce."

----------------------------------

"I love you,
Bruce," thought Diana as her consciousness was awakened by
sudden warm touch on her right cheek. Her journey to complete
awareness was completed and her eyes began to open just in time to
see Bruce leaning over her. She closed her eyes again when the tender
touch of his lips trailed a series of feathery kisses along her lips.
When they stopped she opened her eyes and looked up into the blue
eyes of Bruce, laying in bed on his left side with his left arm
underneath him, propping up his upper torso so that he could lean
over her. His right hand was softly caressing her cheek.

"Hi," she
whispered a little groggily. "What time is it?"

He smiled. It was the
smile that she had come to understand was meant for her and only for
her. She had never seen him smile like that at any one else. "Six
in the morning. I didn't mean to wake you," he apologized.
"But I just couldn't resist."

Diana smiled lazily,
and then rolled over onto her right side so that she could face him.
Her left hand reached out and ran over his naked chest, tracing scars
and muscles alike. She looked into his eyes. "No new ones
tonight?"

Bruce gave her a sad
smirk. "No," he said quietly, "no new scars tonight.
It was actually pretty quiet for a change." He leaned back a bit
and his eyes narrowed in as he studied her. "What time did you
go to bed? You look tired?"

She smiled and moved
over and cuddled into him. Bruce moved his left arm from underneath
him to wrap around her as he eased onto his back, allowing Diana to
rest her head on his chest. "Couldn't sleep," she said
then looked up into his eyes. "I missed you too much." It
wasn't a lie.

A gentle kiss upon her
forehead greeted her response. She cuddled back into him as he said a
little suspiciously, "Really? I thought you might have been
having nightmares."

She suppressed the
grimace that wanted to run through her body. "Well," she
said truthfully against his skin, "I did have a nightmare or
two."

"And Alfred
brought you hot chocolate," he said knowingly.

She turned her head to
look at him. He was studying her closely. "Yes," she
admitted. "How did you know?"

She got a Batman
patented smirk in response. After a moment he asked, "Did it
help?"

Diana smiled, placed
her left hand on Bruce's chest and then moved up to kiss him gently
on his lips. "Oh yes," she said happily. "It worked
like a charm."

"Good,"
murmured Bruce against her lips. "What were you dreaming about
when I came in?"

"This," said
Diana as she leaned in and kissed him deeply….

----------------------------------

The image of Diana and
her love vanished from Morpheus' dream pool and Morpheus turned to
Aphrodite. "She is truly happy, Aphrodite."

Aphrodite smiled
brilliantly. "Yes, Morpheus, she is indeed."

"Thanks to you, my
lady."

Aphrodite's smile
dropped a little. "Hardly, Morpheus. She found happiness on her
own."

Morpheus nodded in a
gesture of acquiescence. "As you wish, Aphrodite."

Morpheus fell silent
and Aphrodite regarded her fellow god with some concern. "What
is the matter, Morpheus?"

Morpheus looked to
Aphrodite and smiled. "Nothing, my lady. I was just wondering
what I could do to Ares to…repay him…for his taking advantage of
my nature."

Aphrodite laughed
musically. "If I may make a suggestion, noble Morpheus?"

As Aphrodite detailed
her idea to Morpheus, the god of dreams only just managed to hold in
his laughter.

The smile on
Aphrodite's face shone throughout Olympus. "After all," she
said with a small shrug of her perfect shoulders, "even gods
sleep."

----------------------------------

Ares walked across the
battlefield, his armor glistening in the hot sun and his sword
covered from its pointed tip to its golden hilt with the crimson life
blood of his enemies. There was no one left on the uneven rocky plain
to face him and he raised his sword to the sky in victory.

"I am over here,
Ares!" came a mocking call from behind him.

Ares lowered his sword
and turned to face the woman who had become a very painful thorn in
his side. Diana stood a short distance away, apparently dressed in
the battlefield armor of Athena herself and holding Athena's spear in
her left hand, complimented by a xiphos in her right.

Ares' eyes narrowed in
anger and he charged her, bellowing an ancient war cry, a practice
that he himself began untold millennia ago. As he neared her, Diana
drove the point of Athena's spear into the ground beside her and held
up her sword, waiting for him to get to her.

Ares raised his sword
and when he was within striking distance he drove it downward with
all of his strength towards her helmeted head. She dodged the blow by
moving swiftly to her right, forcing his unopposed force to bury half
of his sword in the ground.

Diana used the flat
edge of her sword to tap Ares tauntingly on his rump and laughed
haughtily as she moved gracefully behind him.

Incensed, Ares whirled
around, swinging his sword at Diana's waist in a backhand motion,
only to find air when Diana nimbly jumped back slightly and bent her
body at her hips. Ares then swung his sword at her head with a
forehand swing, once again missing his target when Diana simply
ducked.

Ares' frustration and
anger grew with each miss. Finally he gripped his sword with both
hands, raised it above his head and once again tried to crush Diana's
skull, and once again he missed and his sword hit the ground as Diana
sidestepped it as she did before.

This time, however,
along with easily avoiding the blow, she brought her sword around
and, with a skill that had been honed over uncounted centuries,
inserted her blade into the right leg armor just below Ares' ass and
pushed downward, peeling the armor off like a tin can.

Diana moved away and
Ares' looked down with astonishment at his now bare leg. "How is
this possible?" he asked as he looked to Diana, who had the most
condescending smile on her face.

Diana twirled the sword
in her hand. "Lots and lots of practice," she said, then
pointed her sword past his shoulder to a small mound, "and a
little divine blessing doesn't hurt."

When he turned around
and looked in that direction, Ares nearly fell to his knees. In the
center of the front rim of the mound stood Hera, flanked on both her
left and right by other goddesses; Aphrodite, Athena, Demeter,
Artemis, Nemesis, Hestia, Persephone, Hebe, all nine Muses and Nike
were easily visible, but he could tell that more stood behind them.
Then when he looked beyond the mound, Ares saw something that shot a
stab of fear through his heart. Behind the mound stood thousands of
Amazons, all armed and wearing battle dress, apparently ready for a
fight.

When he turned back to
Diana, the tip of her sword pressed into his throat. Ares tried to
retreat, to disappear, but he was powerless. Diana raised her
eyebrows at him and he let go of his sword, letting it fall to rest
by his feet.

Diana planted her feet
without moving the sword and reached up to hold it with both hands.
She gave him a predatory look and whispered, "Don't move."

Ares closed his eyes as
Diana raised her sword, and a moment later he felt a hit at his right
shoulder, then a blow to his right hip. Ares drew a breath and felt
another blow to his left hip, then one more to his left shoulder.

The strikes went on for
what seemed like an eternity. Throughout it all, Ares didn't flinch,
nor did he open his eyes at all, that is not until Diana commanded,
"Open your eyes, Ares."

When he did, Ares saw
that he had been turned around to face the goddesses and Amazons, and
in between them stood Diana, who now had her helmet off and had it
tucked underneath her left arm. Her sword was sheathed on her left
hip.

And she was smiling
widely and shaking with barely repressed laughter. A glance to the
goddesses and Amazons showed Ares that they were all holding in their
laughter and he couldn't figure out why.

Diana snickered and
looked down to his waist; at least he thought it was his waist.

"A
little…understated, Ares." She looked up at him. "Is that
why you wear all that armor, to hide your little…?" She
trailed off and glanced downward suggestively.

Ares followed her
glance and his eyes opened with shock, anger and fear when he saw his
armor lying in a pile at his feet. "NO!!!!!" he screamed as
he brought his hands to his front to cover himself. He looked around
the plain with rapid movements in search of escape, but he could find
none. "Your life will be worthless when I…"

Diana sprung towards
him and drew her sword in one fluid motion, resting the tip of her
sword against the inside of his right thigh, turning the top edge of
the blade inwards and pressing up with a not so gentle pressure.

Ares gulped.

Loudly.

Diana's eyes were fire
as she leaned in and growled, "Leave me and those I love alone,
Ares." She pressed her sword up a little harder and added, "Or
I will make you half the god you are now."

Before he had a chance
to recover, Diana withdrew her sword and raised it in triumph as she
walked towards Hera, who was now clapping and cheering, as were all
the females present.

Ares finally fell to
his knees and, for the first time in his existence, Ares, the god of
war, cried like a baby.

----------------------------------

Ares awoke from his not
so peaceful slumber in his new throne and looked around to find
himself alone. He immediately jumped up, reached down and felt
immense relief when his fingers touched his armor, and relieved
beyond words when he realized that the armor still covered all of
him.

"Morpheus,"
snarled Ares as he sat back down. "I will punish you for this."